page_title: Virender Sehwag
section_title: Playing style
hierarchical_section_title: Virender Sehwag / Playing style
caption_attribution_description: English: Virender Sehwag, the captain of Marylebone Cricket Club gets ready to face a delivery during the 2014 English county season launch against Durham at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi, UAE.
context_page_description: Virender Sehwag is a former Indian cricketer. Widely regarded as one of the most destructive batsmen of all time, Sehwag played as an aggressive right-handed opening batsman and also bowled part-time right-arm off-spin. He played his first One Day International in 1999 and joined the Indian test side in 2001. In April 2009, Sehwag became the first Indian to be honoured as the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World for his performance in 2008, subsequently becoming the first player of any nationality to retain the award for 2009. He is the former Occasional captain of India, former Vice-Captain of India, former captain of Delhi Daredevils and former captain of Delhi Ranji Team.
  Sehwag holds multiple records including the highest score made by an Indian in Test cricket, which was also the fastest triple century in the history of international cricket as well as the fastest 250 by any batsman. Sehwag also holds the distinction of being one of four batsmen in the world to have ever surpassed 300 twice in Test cricket. In March 2009, Sehwag smashed what was till then the fastest century ever scored by an Indian in ODI cricket, from 60 balls.
context_section_description: Sehwag was often compared to Sachin Tendulkar in his early days due to the similar batting style, build and appearance. He has acknowledged numerous times that he consciously attempted to model his playing style on Tendulkar's in his youth.
  Sehwag's technique is often cited as being particularly unorthodox, often backing away (considered technically incorrect) to free his arms whilst playing his shots, in particular,a to cut or drive spinners inside out. He is frequently cited by commentators for his extremely strong (physically) square cutting and upper cutting and power through the off-side. He is also an excellent player of the late cut. In particular, his tendency to strike the ball in the air and risk dismissal is a trait which has seen him noted for his chancy and adventurous mindset. He is also noted for a relative lack of footwork, with his timing often attributed to his eyesight. Of late, Sehwag has shown a proclivity to be dismissed by inswing deliveries, something attributed to his leaden-footed batting style. He has also got dismissed playing the cut shot when the ball was too close to his body to cut, especially in limited over matches.
  Virender Sehwag is often noted for his extremely attacking style of batting, and in 2005 he was described by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack as the "most exciting opener in the world" due to his aggressive style in Test matches, his strike rate being inferior only to that of Adam Gilchrist and Shahid Afridi. Sehwag has also been noted for his apparent disregard for the match situation, exhibited by aggressive batting even when his team is in a poor position or after being outmanoeuvred by the bowler in the recent past. This is a two-edged sword, as it allows him to not be psychologically hindered by previous failures, but can also lead to excessive aggression. Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer spoke of him as a "sophisticated slogger". But over the years, his style has changed from "reckless hitting" to that of "controlled aggression", according to an article in the Sydney Morning Herald. Previously Sehwag was known predominantly as an offside player, with a weakness against straight short pitched bowling. However, in the last two years he has improved his leg side and bouncer hitting considerably. This is shown in the recent ODIs against New Zealand where he utilised the pull, hook and flick shots to devastating effect.
  As of 15 March 2010, Sehwag has an average of nearly 68 in the first innings of test matches where he has scored 5,130 runs, 18 centuries and 12 fifties in 76 matches. In the second innings, his average drops to 31 and has scored 1,561 runs, with only one century and 9 fifties in 54 innings. The first and second innings difference of 37 runs is one of the highest and indicates a lack of ability in dealing with more difficult batting conditions as the pitch deteriorates. However, his match-saving second-innings 151 against Australia at Adelaide during the 2007–08 Border-Gavaskar series, and a match winning 92 in trying situations at Nagpur during the 2008–09 series, went a long way towards repairing that image. In the 2008 Test series against England, Sehwag played a key role in the fourth innings of the first Test in Chennai. He amassed 83 runs in 68 balls, which helped India chase down an improbable target of 387 with six wickets to spare. This was the highest successful run chase in India and the fourth-highest in Test history. For this effort, Sehwag was adjudged Man of the Match. On 12 August 2011, Sehwag became only the third Indian in history to achieve a king pair (2 golden ducks consecutively) and the 15th player to do that of all time, but weeks later he again scored crucial and aggressive pair of 55 against West Indies.
  In eight Test matches since April 2012, he has managed to score just 408 runs at an average of 31.38, with highest being 117. In six ODIs in the same period, he scored 183 runs at an average of 30.5 and was dropped for the ODI series against England. His last ODI century was the double hundred against the West Indies in December 2011. Former En
caption: Virender Sehwag takes strike for MCC
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